Sixty-seven Million Trials in Four Weeks: How Online Video Games Can Change How We Think about Research

League of Legends is an online game with over 67 million players playing the game every month. As the developer of League of Legends, Riot Games has been employing the latest research from social and cognitive psychology, mixed with techniques like machine learning and game design, to help create more positive online communities.

Lin will present examples on how his team utilizes machine learning to study the evolution of language, and how feedback from the system can be used as an intervention to curb negative online behaviors. In the past year, Riot Games has begun collaborations with academic institutions to study cooperation and collective intelligence, online governance, and the evolution of language. Running experiments and data analyses, Lin will discuss how these results and learnings can be translated into viable game features that enhance engagement and amplify already existing sportsmanlike behavior, while changing how we think about research.

Lin received a PhD in cognitive neuroscience from the University of Washington. He is the Lead Game Designer of Social Systems for Riot Games.